An article from Inside Higher Ed features new research on test-optional college admissions, which challenges concerns that such policies admit underprepared students.
Led by Professor ulie J. Park, the study draws on interviews with students, faculty and admissions staff at selective public universities and finds that most students admitted without test scores felt academically capable and supported.
“We were really trying to understand how it was affecting students’ experiences, both during the application process, but also on the ground, after the point of enrollment,” Park says. “I think our findings provide a counternarrative to that dominant narrative that test optional is resulting in all these unqualified students who can’t handle college. By and large the students said, ‘We did fine.’ Even staff members were like, ‘They did fine.’ Even if they experienced challenges, in the end they were able to get the support they needed.”
